Tackle Usu Combines Size, Strength

At 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, Leuzinger tackle Tevete Usu ranks as one of biggest prep football players in Southern California.

He also might be the strongest.

Usu bench-pressed 185 pounds 30 times last spring at a scouting combine conducted by Dick Lascola, director of a college scouting service. Lascola said it was the first time a player had reached 30 repetitions on the bench-press at one of his combines.

“The guy was a beast,” Lascola said. “The next-closest kid did it 26 times. When you get in the 20s, you’re doing pretty good.”

This was the second year that Lascola held combines at locations throughout Southern California. He invites players whom he considers college prospects and, free of charge, films them performing several drills testing their strength, speed and agility. He provides the videos to colleges.

“It gives us a chance to see a lot of kids,” Lascola said.

Leuzinger Coach Steve Carnes said Usu, who will start at offensive tackle and see some duty on the defensive line, has college potential.

“He’s a big, strong kid,” Carnes said. “And he can move.”

Usu, a senior, broke his ankle in the summer of 1991 and missed the first half of last season, delaying his development.

But finding a place in the lineup for Usu hasn’t been nearly as difficult as finding a helmet that fits. As of last week, Usu was practicing with a helmet that was too small.

“He keeps it on during contact, then he takes it off,” Carnes said, chuckling. “It’s not funny to him because it gives him headaches.”

El Segundo’s football team has yet to play a game under new Coach Craig Cousins, but the Eagles have already suffered a big loss.

Cousins learned on the first day of fall practice that quarterback Landon Wilson was moving with his family to Minneapolis. Wilson’s father, Rick, was hired as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars after losing a similar position with the Kings.

“It hurts us, but what can you do?” Cousins said. “You can’t cry over something you can’t control.”

Wilson, a senior who passed for 800 yards and eight touchdowns in 1991, has been replaced by an inexperienced sophomore.

El Segundo lost another returning starter when lineman Hauss Hancock recently transferred to West Torrance. Hancock also is a highly regarded pitcher in baseball, posting a 3-1 record for the Eagles last season.

Ed Paculba, Banning’s new football coach, is hoping that Mike Schmitz can develop into a great offensive lineman. The 6-6, 300-pound sophomore already has NFL size.

“He kind of reminds me of Bob Whitfield,” said Paculba, referring to the former Banning and Stanford standout who was a first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons. “Bob was kind of clumsy when he got here, but he developed over a period of three years. I hope this kid does the same thing.”

Schmitz, whose father is German and mother is Samoan, will be used as a backup on the varsity this season.

Torrance football Coach Bill Bynum said he doesn’t foresee any problems this season coaching his son Bill, the Tartars’ quarterback.

“He’s pretty much grown up doing it all through youth sports,” Bynum said. “He’s matured enough to where he can take the heat when I jump on him. I think that’s the toughest thing in a father-son relationship. That family stuff stops on the football field. If you can’t handle it, then you have a problem.”

Bynum said he would have no reservations about benching his son if the situation called for it.

“I’m probably more objective with my own kid than anybody else,” he said. “I lean the other way. He has to do more to live up to my standards.”

And at Torrance, those standards are pretty high. Last year’s quarterback, Jason Kendall, led the area in passing and ranked among state leaders with 2,962 yards and 23 touchdowns.

“We’re going to throw the heck out of it,” Bynum said. “I believe in that.”

Hawthorne linebacker Tevita Moala, an All-South Bay selection last season, is the oldest of nine children, six of whom are boys who figure to make their mark in the Cougar football program for years to come.

“I’m grateful to their parents,” Coach Dan Robbins said.

Kalisi Moala, a junior, will split time with his older brother at fullback and play outside linebacker this season. Joshua, a freshman, is a 5-10, 250-pound lineman who will play on the underclass level.

“The line coach has already forced me to commit that he can have Joshua,” Robbins said. “He’ll be with (the varsity) next year.”

Last year was an exciting time for Peninsula High after it was created by the merger of three schools (Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste).

But football Coach Gary Kimbrell said he didn’t enjoy it.

“There were so many different compromises on my part that I wasn’t happy with,” Kimbrell said. “I wouldn’t go through it again.”

In an effort to blend players from three different programs, Kimbrell said he made decisions that went against his better judgment. It may have ultimately cost the Panthers, who lost their last two games of 1991 to Inglewood and to Schurr of Montebello in a Division III playoff opener.

“Those were two games I felt we should have won,” Kimbrell said.

A year later, though, the veteran coach says he is much more comfortable.

“It just seems like old times now,” he said. “We have a little bit more of a team personality, which has got to help.”

How tough will it be for San Pedro to replace quarterback Rino Marconi, who passed for 1,779 yards and six touchdowns in 1991 to help the Pirates reach the City Section 3-A Division semifinals for the first time?

Very tough, according to San Pedro Coach Mike Walsh.

“We probably won’t have someone comparable to Rino for the next 20 years,” Walsh said.

Losing a top-notch quarterback to graduation couldn’t have come at a worse time for San Pedro. Walsh says the Pirates have their best group of receivers in recent memory.

It’s too early to select an All-South Bay football team, but the all-name team is ready to go. Our picks:

Chadwick guard Danny (Truck) Klink, Banning receiver Jason Ping, Mira Costa safety Jade Byrd, South Torrance tailback Kapono Tumale, Peninsula defensive end Matt Cheeseman, St. Bernard linebacker Billy Buffington, Carson cornerback Pa’a Pepe, Morningside safety Neon Frazier, Torrance cornerback Quincy Wimbush and Mary Star kicker Sal Groppo.

Name of the year: Inglewood cornerback Anthorne Cawthorne. It’s too bad he doesn’t play for Hawthorne.

Notes

The rumor making the rounds is that Morningside’s Stais Boseman will sign with Arizona and play basketball, not football. . . . North Torrance football Coach Joe Austin has made a swift recovery after being hospitalized with a head injury suffered when he fell down a flight of stairs at school. The accident occurred shortly before the start of fall practice.

Chris Shell, a wide receiver on Peninsula’s unbeaten sophomore football in 1991 and the son of Raider Coach Art Shell, has transferred to Bishop Montgomery after experiencing academic problems at Peninsula. The junior is not playing football this season. . . . Quote Department: Mira Costa football Coach Bill Lysle, on 6-2, 240-pound sophomore fullback Phil Fonua: “He’s a boy in a man’s body.”

Redondo’s football team will make a four-hour bus trip to Lake Isabella, about 60 miles northeast of Bakersfield, to play its opener Friday night against Kern Valley. . . . Bishop Montgomery football Coach Bob Tompson will make his debut Friday night against visiting Pius X, the team he coached in 1991. Under Tompson, Pius X finished second to Serra in the Camino Real League but had to forfeit eight victories because it played several ineligible players.